The Adventures of Cloudclan 004
by SkyWaterfire02
Summary: Ever wondered how Cloudclan began? Silverstar tells the whole story to the eager apprentices. What brought the clan together? What did they encounter in the early days of Cloudclan? Now it can all be revealed...
1. Chapter 1

The Adventures of Cloudclan 004

_Hello readers! This is a note from the author! Sorry I haven't written a story in a while… I've been busy. Anyways, thank you to all my story followers, and thank you for being so patient. Now… here's the famous opening for Cloudclan! _

In the heart of a deep, deep forest, there lives a great clan of cats. These cats are noble, fearless, and loyal. They will fight to the death to defend their clan. And in times of trouble, they call upon Starclan, the clan of great cat spirits, to help them. This is Cloudclan.

Silverstar yawned and stretched her claws. It was almost sundown, and she was picking the meat off the bones of what was left of her shrew. The scent of leaf-fall was in the air, and the leaves were already beginning to fall. She looked around. Cloverpelt was examining a scratch on Ivyblaze's leg, and Moonshine was stuffing oak leaves in a crack in the den.

"It's that time of the year," she exclaimed. "Time to gather all the oak leaves. They're very good for infection you know, if there's no marigold around. Wait- if there's no goldenrod- well actually, both work for wounds. Great Starclan, I keep getting marigold and goldenrod mixed up all the time…"

Silverstar smiled as the medicine cat rambled on. Suddenly, the training patrol returned. Gingerpaw proudly carried a squirrel in her mouth, while Goldenpaw sulked, her jaws empty.

"I almost caught a mouse," she sighed.

"_Almost _doesn't feed the clan, but a squirrel does!" Gingerpaw bragged.

"Shut up!" Goldenpaw hissed. "I'll still be a better warrior than you!"

"You? Puh-lease," Gingerpaw scoffed. "A mouse would make a better warrior than you!"

"That's _enough,_" Rosepetal growled. "You have all done well. You may take a piece of prey and eat."

Gingerpaw and Goldenpaw glared at each other, then settled down to eat. Goldenpaw was nervous about eating, since she hadn't managed to catch anything. Shadowpaw noticed that the two were keeping apart, and wanted to clear the air between them.

"Hey guys, why don't we go listen to a story?" she suggested.

"A story? Who's gonna tell us a story? There are no elders in our clan," Lotuspaw pointed out.

"Maybe Silverstar could tell us a story," Shadowpaw said.

"I wouldn't bother Silverstar," Vixenstep warned. "She's awfully tired and busy-"

The apprentices were off before she could finish.

"Silverstar! Silverstar!"

Silverstar looked up. The apprentices were hovering over her like a flock of birds.

"Silverstar, we're bored. Can you tell us a story, please, please, please?" Gingerpaw begged. Silverstar perked up.

"A story?" she asked, amused. "Well hmmm, I've never been asked for a story before. What would you like to hear?" The apprentices thought for a moment.

"Maybe you could tell us how the clan started!" suggested Shadowpaw.

"Yeah! What happened before Cloudclan began?" Lotuspaw asked. Silverstar looked at the apprentices.

"Well, alright. Settle down, because this is a long story. It all started many moons ago, back when I was even younger than you…"


	2. Chapter 2

My name was Sun. Cleo was my wonderful father. We lived in an abandoned Twoleg alley. The giant dens had all been made by Twolegs, as Cleo told me, but the Twolegs were gone and the dens were breaking down. We lived a humble life, and we hunted rats to survive. We drank the water we found, but it was usually dirty, and cats often got sick from it. Many other cats lived in the area, and sometimes Cleo got into fights, but he always kept me safe.

Cleo was a good cat. Many cats went around looking for reasons to fight, but Cleo always looked for other solutions before he battled another cat. Cleo loved me very much, but he had to be tough on me or we wouldn't survive. I never learned who my mother was, but I guess it was never really important to me.

One night, when I was asleep, I received a dream. I saw a cat with starry fur, and he was all black except for his white tail, which was where he got his name: Whitetail.

"Little Silver," he said. "Although your world is dark, you have a great, bright destiny ahead for you."

Little Silver? Why would he call me Little Silver? My fur was white, not silver.

"Is that why your pelt and name changed when we went on the long journey?" asked Lotuspaw.

"Perhaps," said Silverstar. Then she went on.

I tried to ask Whitetail what he meant, but I then woke up. I didn't know what the dream meant, or whether it was real or if I had just ate a bad rat the night before, so I tried hard to forget about it. Soon after however, things changed. The twolegs started to come back, and they started to tear down the dens-

"Wait, hold on!" Goldenpaw interrupted. "Why would the Twolegs come back to a bunch of abandoned dens and destroy everything?"

"Who cares?" Gingerpaw retorted. "Why do Twolegs do anything they do? They never make sense!"

"True," Gingerpaw admitted.

"May I return to the story?" Silverstar asked.

"Yes, Silverstar," the apprentices chanted.

"Good, now where was I? Oh, yes-"

The twolegs came with big towering monsters, and the monsters attacked our home and everything around it. Cat turned against cat fighting over resources, and some cats were actually foolish enough to try fighting the monsters and Twolegs. They of course, were all killed. Falling debris also killed cats. We were starving, dying, constantly in danger- it was chaos. Soon, Cleo realized we couldn't stay, or we would die. He took me to the edge of the forest. He hid me in a bush and hunted in the woods. After living like this for a half-moon, it looked like things had calmed down back home. Cleo decided to go back to see if we could return home. He kept me hidden in the bush and left some prey.

"Stay here and don't move," he said. "I'll be back as quickly as possible. If something attacks you, you run. Do whatever you need to do to keep yourself safe, alright?"

"Okay," I said. Cleo quickly ran off.

I waited. And waited. And waited. Days passed. Cleo didn't come back. As days turned into quarter-moons, I had used up the prey and was beginning to starve. I started to cough, and realized I was very ill. It was leaf-bare, after all. Finally I realized Cleo must be dead, or he would have come back by now. The only thing I could do now was go into the forest and try to survive on my own.

The forest was dark and unwelcoming, and it proved to be very hard to live in. Much of the prey was sleeping, and the prey I did find, I failed to catch because my coughs scared them away. I had a massive fever, my head hurt, and I was far too sick to hunt. Finally, I gave up and collapsed. Would it really be so bad to die here in this forest? Perhaps I could then join Cleo…

"Oh, you poor thing!"

I forced my eyes open. A silver-blue cat was staring at me. I tensed. Was she going to attack?

"Thank goodness I found you! I heard someone coughing, and you sounded just so horridly sick, so I came rushing over right away." I blinked.

"Y-you're not going to attack me?" I questioned.

"Why, no!" the she-cat said. "I would never attack a sick, defenseless cat such as yourself. You need to be taken care of, right away!"

"So, you're going to cure me?" I asked hopefully.

"Yes, of course! You need help, and fast!" And pretty soon I was being half-carried, half-dragged to this cat's den. She lived under a small bush that has lost its leaves to leaf-bare. "I know it isn't much," she said. "But it's a den. Does the job. Here, eat these herbs." I ate some tasty plant with purple flowers, which I recognized as catmint. Yes, catmint, that's what Cleo told me. Then, I drifted to sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

"Good morning!"

A cheerful voice woke me up. I was in a place I didn't know, with a cat I didn't know. Where was I? Shouldn't I be in the bush waiting for Cleo?

Then I remembered.

"You seem to look a lot better!" the she-cat said. I felt a lump in my throat as I remembered my lost father. I forced myself to look fine.

"You know, you've been taking care of me all this time, and I don't even know our name."

"Well, that's a good point!" The she-cat exclaimed. "My name's Moon. What's yours?"

"My name's Sun," I replied.

"Well your name's Sun, and mine's Moon! What a coincidence we should find each other!"

I started laughing, but that laugh turned into a cough.

"You're still coughing," Moon said. She passed me some leaves. "Here, this is coltsfoot. Chew up these leaves, and swallow the juice. But not the leaf bits. Spit those out." I eyed the "coltsfoot" suspiciously.

"Are you sure?" I questioned.

"Don't worry, it's not poison," Moon assured.

"But how do you know what all these herbs do?" I asked.

"Well, some my father taught to me. But these," she said, pointing to the leaves. "These I learned through experiments. See, I had an awful cough that wouldn't go away, so I resorted to trial-and-error. The first plant I tried didn't do anything, and the second just gave me a stomach ache. Finally I found this herb, and I learned to spit out the leaf bits."

"Ummm, isn't testing out herbs a little dangerous? I mean, what if they're poisonous?" I asked.

"Hmm… well I suppose it's not the safest thing. You'd better not try it," she replied. I blinked, then leaned over to eat the herbs. Doing as instructed, I spat out the somewhat bitter leaf bits.

"_Plleeggghhhh!"_

"I caught you a mouse," Moon continued. "I know it's not much, but all the prey is sleeping at the moment. Plus I'm not an expert hunter at all." I ate the mouse ravenously.

"I suppose I could hunt after I get better," I offered.

"Great idea!" Moon exclaimed. "I'll fetch herbs for when we're sick, and you'll hunt! I think we'll make great partners!" I spat out my mouse.

"Partners?" I cried.

"Sure! We can live together and we'll make a great team!"

"But my dad Cleo always told me cats live alone," I said.

"That's ridiculous!" Moon exclaimed. "Why should cats face the hardships of living alone when we can band together?" Then she stopped, and asked "By the way, where is your dad?" The lump in my throat that I had been trying to swallow swelled up again.

"Well," I sniffed. "Well, we ran away from our home in Twolegplace after Twolegs destroyed it. Cleo went back home to check if maybe we could return, but he never came back. I suppose I'll never know what's happened to him."

"That's terrible," Moon said. "I'm sorry if I upset you."

"It's okay," I sighed. Moon looked at the ground.

"My dad Cinnamon was killed by a pack of foxes. I feel so guilty that I couldn't save him, but I was too young to do anything to help."

There was a long, painful silence between us. Then Moon spoke."It doesn't matter. We'll be fine on our own."

I wondered if it was true.

A few moons passed, and my illness was long gone. I hunted, and Moon taught me some basic herb knowledge. We exchanged battle knowledge. Soon the snow thawed, and newleaf came. One day, I was joining Moon on a walk through the woods. Moon had a slight fever, and she was looking for a plant she called "feverfew".

"It's a small white flower, and it kind of looks daisy. But it's not a daisy, daisies are used differently," she was saying. Moon was so caught up in her description that she wasn't looking where she was going.

"Moon, look out!" I cried. Moon stumbled into a small ditch in the forest floor. When she got to her paws, she found that there was another cat in the ditch.

"Get out This is my territory!" the cat hissed. Moon backed away.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean-"

The cat lunged at Moon. I jumped to fight, and soon we were fighting the cat. The stranger tried to defeat us, but she was outnumbered. She scratched at Moon's nose, and clawed her leg. I leapt and pinned the cat down. The cat struggled, but she was unable to free herself. I lifted a claw, ready to scratch her face.

"Sun, don't!" Moon cried. "Let her go!"

"Why? If I let her go, she'll attack!" I argued.

"She won't, trust me. She knows she's lost," Moon said. I let go of the cat, and she immediately scrambled back.

"This is my territory," she hissed. "Get out!"

"How were we supposed to know? You didn't even mark your scent!" I protested.

"Well it's still mine!"

"Look, you don't have to be hostile," Moon said. "We meant no harm. You're just as scared of us as we are of you." I went up to the cat.

"My name's Sun, and this is Moon. What's yours?" The cat backed away and hissed at us.

"You can't fool me!" she spat. "I know what you're up to! You're just trying to trick me into being friends with you so you can steal my den!"

"Why would we want this mess of a den?" Moon asked. "We've got a perfectly fine den of our own. Not every cat is out to get you, you know." The cat eyed us, then relaxed.

"My name's Rose," she admitted shakily. As Rose was looking at us, making absolutely sure we weren't trying to steal her home, I was looking at both Rose and Moon. Then I noticed something.

"You two must be kin!" I exclaimed. Moon and Rose stared at me as if I had three eyes.

"What makes you say that?" Moon gasped.

"Because you look similar," I said.

"No we don't," Rose protested. "She has blue-silver fur, and I have red fur."

"But your eyes are the same," I explained. "And you have the same tail and face shape." Moon and Rose looked at each other.

"I suppose maybe it is true," Rose admitted.

"Well then, in that case you ought to come live with us! This old ditch is no place for a cat to live!" So we went back to Moon's place and added an extra nest. And so throughout new-leaf Moon collected herbs, I hunted, and Rose guarded us. All was well as the flowers turned to berries and greenleaf seeped in. All was well until one day, when we were almost killed.


	4. Chapter 4

I was out hunting one day, just like normal, when I heard an ear-splitting screech. I abandoned my newly-caught vole and ran back to our den. I was horrified at what I found. Badgers. 2 of them. Moon and Rose were desperately trying to fight them off.

"Well don't just stand there, help us!" Rose cried. Snapping out of my shock, I jumped on the back of one of the badgers and wrapped my paws around its eyes so it couldn't see. The infuriated badger, however, threw me off. Moon, fueled with anger, rapidly threw herself at the badger, ripping its flank. And that was her downfall. Moon, not thinking, was only attacking, not defending herself, which allowed the badger to claw her throat and fling her against a tree stump. Moon slumped to the ground, barely moving.

"Moon!" Rose cried. Before we could go over to help her, the badgers blocked the way.

"We're crow-food," I moaned. And then it happened. I saw a flash of red-brown fur, and both badgers were shoved against a pile of rocks. A red-brown cat with flashing green eyes had done the job.

"Help me," the cat growled. We leapt forward and attacked with the she-cat. The cat and Rose battered one badger, while I clamped my jaws around the throat of the other. The two badgers whimpered and backed away. The she-cat backed up for the final blow. "And don't- come- BACK!" She flung herself at both badgers and shoved them away. The badgers ran off.

"Thanks for helping us," I said.

"No problem," the cat said. "My name's Ivy. Glad I could help."

"Moon!" Rose cried. We looked over, reminded of the injured cat. "She's unconscious! She- oh, please tell me she's not dead!" Ivy and I ran over.

"Do you know any herbs?" Ivy asked.

"She was the one who knew all that stuff," I replied.

"I thought she taught you some herbs! Don't you know anything?" Rose asked, panicked.

"I- I can't!" My panicked brain strained to recall the herbs Moon used. She always used something whenever someone was bleeding. Something, something…

"Cobwebs!" I cried. "They stop the bleeding!"

"Cobwebs? Are you sure?" Rose asked.

"YES! There's some in her den. HURRY!" I cried. Rose came back with a mouthful of cobwebs. We placed the mound on the wound, and the webs began to soak up the blood. "Get some marigold too," I instructed. "In case it gets infected." Rose came back, and we made a poultice to apply. We watched her for any sign of movement until we were almost certain she was dead. Rose looked ready to wail.

"Should we start digging a grave?" Ivy asked quietly. Suddenly, Moon's eyes opened. She looked at our poultice.

"Well done," she said. "Looks like you did pay attention to my _boring_ plant talk after all."

"It was Sun who knew the herbs," Rose said. Moon looked at Ivy.

"Who's this?" she asked.

"This is Ivy," I explained. "She helped save us from the badgers."

"I think you'll have to teach us some more of your herbs," Ivy said.

"Wait- _us_?" Rose asked.

"Yeah! I think you guys could really use in your group," offered Ivy.

"Well, there is strength in numbers," Moon managed to say. And from then on, we decided that we would let any cat that wanted to join us could join. We wanted to have the biggest group, since cats that lived together and helped each other lived a better life.

Only a few days later, Ivy and I went hunting. Prey was abundant, and we were catching a lot.

"I think that's enough for one day," Ivy said. "If we keep hunting, we won't be able to carry it all back home!" Suddenly, Rose and Moon came running towards us.

"Sun! Sun!" Rose cried. "I think someone's spying on us!"

"Spying?" Ivy questioned.

"We noticed some cat was watching us in a tree. She doesn't seem to realize we saw her, though," Moon explained. "We figured it was too risky to investigate on our own, so we wanted to find you guys."

"Alright, we'll sneak up on her and attack her before she even realizes what hit her!" I said. Rushing back to our den, Rose found the tree the spy was in. "Alright Moon, climb up on that side. Rose, climb on that side. Ivy, you'll climb in front of the spy, and I'll sneak up close behind her," I instructed. "We need to surround the spy." Climbing up the tree, we silently got closer, until we were only a whisker away from her. The spy wore a collar, and she was staring at our den, obviously waiting for us to come into view so she could watch us.

"_Dumb kittypet,"_ I thought. _"She actually thinks she can _spy _on us."_ The other cats waited for me to give the signal. I wanted to strike at just the right moment. When the cat started to look impatient, I flicked my tail. We leapt straight at her.

"GOT YOU!" I cried. We had planned to attack, but the kittypet was so startled she shrieked, and fell out of the tree. We jumped off the branch and surrounded her.

"SPY!" Ivy hissed. "Get out of our territory!"

"I'm terribly sorry," the cat said. "But I've been watching your group for a few days now.

"Why have you been spying on us?" asked a calm Moon, the only cat whose spine wasn't arched.

"Because I've been called to," the cat answered.

"Called to? By who?" I asked.

"The starry cats," the cat answered. I froze. Starry cats? Ivy and Rose looked confused, but Moon stiffened.

"What do you mean by 'starry cats?'" she questioned.

"Starry cats come into my dreams every night. They told me to come here and watch your ways," the cat replied.

"Ha! You came here and spied on us because of a few weird dreams-" Rose was cut off by Moon.

"What did these cats look like?" she asked.

"Well, there was really only one cat. He had stars in his fur, and he was very tall. He was all black, except for his white tail, which I guess is where he got his name: Whitetail."

Whitetail. Why did what name sound familiar? Then I realized I knew exactly where I heard that name before. Because long ago, that cat had visited me, too.

"Whitetail- that cat has been visiting my dreams too," Moon admitted. I turned my head to her.

"What?!" I asked.

"Yes, Moon went on. "Every night, he comes into my dream and says 'look to the clouds.' The he disappears," she explained. My head swirled. So that dream _did_ mean something. I wasn't the only one who got them! "What is your name?" Moon asked.

"My name's Clover," the cat said.

"Well Clover, I think you should join us and tell me more about these dreams," Moon declared.

"What?!" Rose cried. "Do you have bees in your brain? We can't trust her! You're basing this all on a bunch of dreams!"

"This is my destiny," Clover stated flatly.

"But you're a kittypet!" Ivy pointed out. Clover ripped off her collar, threw it on the ground, and buried it.

"Not anymore," she exclaimed.

"Won't your Twolegs be worried about you?" Ivy asked.

"They'll be sad, but they can get a new cat," Clover said. But when we turned back to our den, we realized there was no room for five cats to live in it. So we agreed to move. As we traveled, Rose gave Clover many suspicious looks, but she didn't appear to be violent. Leaving behind our home, we traveled for a few days along rivers, valleys, and fields, until we found it. The perfect camp to house all five of us, and many more. It had multiple dens, and we quickly began claimed our own. There were streams, prey, and lots of herbs. It was perfect.

"Yeah, perfect- until Twolegs came and destroyed it!" Lotuspaw snapped.

"Yes it was lovely, but this camp is a fine home too, isn't it?" Silverstar asked.

"Well, it's just that we had some good memories there," Goldenpaw sighed.

"But now we'll have even more memories here," Shadowpaw said.

"May I return to the story once more?" Silverstar questioned.

"Yes, Silverstar," the apprentices chanted.

"Good. And no more interruptions. Now, where was I? Oh, now I remember-"

The night arrived, we all gathered outside, celebrating. And then I saw them.

"Oh my- LOOK!" I gasped. There were starry cats surrounding the camp.

"Wha- what's going on?" Rose cried. Suddenly I saw a familiar face.

"Cleo!"

Cleo's spirit bounded over to me. "I- I can't believe it's you!" I cried. But I wasn't the only cat seeing past loved ones.

"Cinnamon!" Moon ran over to his spirit.

"It looks like you found you long-lost sister," Cinnamon said, pointing to Rose.

"Sister?" Rose questioned. "I thought maybe we were kin, but she's my _sister_?"

"You both were separated after we were attacked by other cats. I thought they had taken you, Rose, but after I died I found you were still alive and you were fending for yourself. I'm so sorry you were kept apart," Cinnamon explained. Moon and Rose stared at each-other, accepting their newly-discovered kinship. The other cats were rejoicing in finding their dead kin, when another sprit appeared.

"Whitetail!" I cried. Whitetail looked at us.

"I see you are enjoying being reunited with your kin," he stated.

"I can't believe this is real," Ivy exclaimed. "I thought you were all gone for good!"

"Nothing is lost forever," Whitetail said. "Which is precisely why you are here."

"What do you mean?" Clover asked.

"Let me explain," began Whitetail. "Long ago, I knew groups of wild cats that ruled the forest. But I have since left that place. Here, the only cats are kittypets and loners. These cats have no honor, and no respect for their ancestors."

"This is why you are here," he continued. "Fate has driven you five together because you must bring honor to this forest. You must continue the ways of the ancient cats. Under the name of us, Starclan, you will become a clan."


	5. Chapter 5

"A clan?" Moon gasped.

"But we don't know anything about being a clan," Rose protested.

"That is why I will show you," replied Whitetail. All the other sprits disappeared back into the stars. It was just us and Whitetail. "Cats play different roles in a clan," he explained. "There are elders, kits and queens, apprentices, warriors, the medicine cat, deputy, and finally, the leader."

"Who's to take which part?" I asked. "We don't have any elders, or queens with kits."

"But you do have fine warriors," he answered. "And a fine medicine cat," he added, looking at Moon.

"What does a medicine cat do?" Moon asked.

"The medicine cat gathers herbs to heal cats, and talks to us, the ancestors of Starclan," Whitetail said.

"Well obviously, Moon should be medicine cat," I said.

"Oh- but I…" Clover trailed off. Whitetail turned to her.

"Yes?" he asked.

"Well, I can talk to Starclan too," she spoke quietly. "But I don't know much about herbs."

"Then you can be the medicine cat apprentice," he declared. "Moon will train you the knowledge of herbs." Moving on, he went over to the rest of the cats. "The warriors guard and feed the clan. Warriors are honorable, and follow the warrior code." Whitetail went over the rules of the warrior code. I paid rapt attention, committing each word to memory, as it would be the code I would follow for the rest of my days. Then he trained us on how to be a clan. We learned that we had to work together, trust one another, and be trustworthy. We spent the whole night practicing. When dawn came, we felt ready to be a clan.

"It is time to earn your new names," Whitetail announced.

"You're going to change our names?" Rose gasped.

"Clover, come forward!" Whitetail ordered. Clover nervously stepped forward.

"Clover, from this day forward, until you have earned your medicine cat name, you will be known as Cloverpaw. Moon, your turn!" Moon swallowed, anxious at what her name would be.

"Moon, from this day on, you will be known as Moonshine. Ivy, you will be known as Ivyblaze. Rose, you will be known as Rosepetal."

"Ivyblaze! I like it!" Ivyblaze cheered, flexing her claws.

"And lastly, Sun." Whitetail turned his gaze on me. "Sun, from this day on, you will be known as Sunheart."

Sunheart. I paused, acknowledging my new name.

"Sunheart! Moonshine! Rosepetal! Ivyblaze! Cloverpaw!" We cheered our names with joy.

"When you have been a clan long enough, you shall earn your clan name," Whitetail said. Suddenly I remembered something.

"But Whitetail," I cried. "Who's supposed to be leader?"

"That," he said. "Is for you to decide." And then he faded away without saying anymore.

"Silverstar, I'm getting bored," Gingerpaw moaned. "When do I come into the story?"

"Yeah, I wanna hear about me!" Lotuspaw complained.

"Be patient," Silverstar said. "You come in soon."

We were all trying to decide who should be leader.

"Rosepetal, I think you should be leader," I said.

"What? No no no, _Ivyblaze _should lead," Rosepetal argued.

"I can't lead!" Ivyblaze cried! "Sunheart, why can't you lead?"

"GUYS!" I cried. "Forget it! We'll never pick a leader like this. We could be going around like this all day!"

"We _have _been doing this all day," Rosepetal sighed.

"Forget it, we need to set up patrols," Ivyblaze said dismissively. Suddenly, three small cats appeared out of nowhere, baring their claws.

"Of course!" I snapped. "The one time we're not on patrol, there's an invasion!"

"Surrender now!" A ginger-furred cat lunged out.

"Maybe the name of your clan should be FAILURE clan!" another cat snickered. "You can't even pick a leader!" The third cat stepped forward.

"Your territory is ours now!"

Rosepetal took one look at the tiny, young cats and burst out laughing.

"Ha! You weak kits honestly think you can take our camp?" she laughed. "Good luck with that!" Ivyblaze glared at the three.

"I'll teach you to mess with our clan!" she snarled.

"STOP!" I cried. Rosepetal and Ivyblaze froze, mid-attack.

"Sunheart, what are you doing?" Rosepetal questioned, confused. "We're warriors! We're supposed to defend our territory!"

"But we're also supposed to have honor," I protested. "Look at them! They're barely older than kits!" It was true; the three still had traces of kit fur. "They should still be with their mothers!"

"Our mothers abandoned us," one of them admitted. "But we don't need mothers, especially not after we take this camp!" One of the cats started charging towards me. I put a paw on her tail to stop her.

"HEY! Let go!" the cat screeched. Moonshine and Cloverpaw came out of their den.

"Oh dear!" Moonshine said. "You three are in no condition to be wondering around by yourselves! You're lucky a fox or owl hasn't eaten you yet!" The three grumbled and slumped down.

"What are your names?" I asked.

"I'm Ginger," one of them said. "This is Tulip, and that's Water."

"You three still need to be protected," I observed. "What would you say if we let you in?"

"WHAT?!" Rosepetal cried. "ARE WE JUST GONNA LET EVERY CAT IN THE FOREST INTO OUR CLAN?!"

"Relax, Rosepetal," Cloverpaw said. "We need more cats. And besides, they'll make great apprentices."

"What's an apprentice?" Tulip asked.

"It means you're going to be trained to hunt and fight," Ivyblaze explained.

"Really? That sounds like fun!" Water chirped.

"I think we should give you your new names," I said.

"But we don't have a leader to do it," Ivyblaze reminded me.

"It doesn't have to be official," Rosepetal said. "Ginger, you're now Gingerpaw. Tulip, you're Tulippaw. And Water, you're Waterpaw. Done."

"Now we pick mentors," Ivyblaze announced.

'Umm, actually, I think we should all train them as a group," I said.

"But- but they need to have individual mentors," Rosepetal argued.

"Well yes, but only the leader can pick mentors," I pointed out. "So until we get a leader, we'll train them as a group."

"Fine, I guess that makes sense," Rosepetal sighed.

"Well then, let's get started right away," Ivyblaze grinned.

The leaves began to change from green to yellow, orange, and red. The air began to have a chill in it, and the apprentices were all being trained well. Rosepetal, Waterpaw, Gingerpaw, and I were on a border patrol. We were almost finished, when something caught my eye. It was a pitch black figure with deep, deep green eyes. I held my tail and stopped the patrol.

"There's a cat nearby," I hissed.

"Are we going to attack?" Waterpaw asked.

"No, she's not on our territory. She's just waiting on the border," Rosepetal commented. I looked at the cat, slowly approaching.

"Umm, hello?" I called out. "Who are you?" The cat's green eyes flashed our way.

"Hello," she said. "I've been waiting for you."

"Oh, don't tell me you've been spying on us," Rosepetal moaned.

"I've been watching your clan, and I've been sent to join you. By Starclan," the cat said.

"By Starclan?" Gingerpaw gasped. I eyed the cat suspiciously.

"Come with us," I ordered. We led the cat into our camp, watching her carefully. When we reached camp, Tulippaw bounded over to us.

"Is that a prisoner?" she asked.

"No, we found her on the border. Moonshine. Where's Moonshine?" I called out. Moonshine poked her head out of her den.

"What do you need?" she asked.

"We have a cat who claims she spoke with Starclan," I said. Moonshine walked over to the cat.

"Who are you?" she asked calmly.

"My name is Holly," the cat said. "I had a dream where the um… starry cats spoke to me. Yes! The starry cats! They said that I had to join the clan… and then I saw a holly bush. In the shape of a star!"

"What do you think it means?" Cloverpaw asked Moonshine.

"It means," Holly said. "That I am to be your leader!"

Silence filled the camp.

"Well, I guess that settles it!" Ivyblaze grinned. "Holly will be our leader! Okay, so first you need to get your nine lives, and then you need to pick your deputy…"

"Ivyblaze, quiet," Moonshine interrupted. "We're not making her leader."

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU'RE NOT- I mean, why not?" Holly asked, catching herself.

"Well, at least not yet. I'm sorry Holly, but we can't just take your word for it. We need to be absolutely sure that you're meant to be our leader before we do anything drastic," I said. Holly looked irritated, but she nodded.

"Very well," she hissed.

"Until then," I continued. "We will give you your warrior name, Hollystem. You must prove that you are capable of being leader."

"And how exactly will I do that?" Hollystem asked with a flick of her tail.

"You must be an excellent warrior," Rosepetal said. "You will hunt, fight, and train the younger ones."

"Where do I start?"Hollystem asked, flexing her claws.

"Well, we're going on a patrol for moss," I said. "You'll come with us."

On the patrol, we walked to a huge boulder with a flat side covered with moss. I showed the apprentices how to collect moss. Hollystem tried to follow me, digging her claws into the green matter, but she just ended up with a small, pathetic slab. She tried again, with little improvement. She threw down her moss.

"This is stupid!" she snapped.

"Don't get frustrated," Tulippaw said. "Look, it's not that hard!" She waved her tail over her perfect moss slabs. Hollystem, not wanting to be outdone by an apprentice, started clawing more. When she finally managed to come up with tolerable pieces, we started to head home. Suddenly, we spotted three birds. Two small, one large. I started stalking them, when Hollystem shoved me out of the way.

"I'll get them!" she said. The commotion scared away the two smaller birds, but the larger stayed. Hollystem leapt and killed the bird. "Look! I got it!" she exclaimed. "Don't I show great _leadership _skills?"

"We could have gotten all three of them," I snarled. "If you hadn't scared them away."

"Doesn't matter," Hollystem huffed. "We got the biggest one, that's what's important."

When we got home, Hollystem started to eat the bird.

"Hollystem, stop!" Ivyblaze snapped. "That's for the apprentices!"

"WHAT?" Hollystem cried. "How come _they_ get to eat? They didn't hunt anything!"

"The leader is always first into battle, and last to take prey," I reminded her.

"Oh… right…" Hollystem said. She tossed the bird towards Gingerpaw, sending it rolling in mud. "I wasn't hungry anyways." Gingerpaw stared at the bird.

"It's all muddy now," she complained.

"Eat it," I ordered.


	6. Chapter 6

As it began to get colder, the frost began to settle on the leaves and plants. Hollystem was never made the official leader, but she sure acted like it. Everything was always about her. She had to be the center of attention. She ordered the cats around, and was even caught trying to convince the apprentices to call her "Hollystar." One snowy leaf-bare day, I decided to send her and the apprentices on a hunting patrol. The four left to catch some much-needed prey.

"I hope they come back soon," Cloverpaw chirped. "We need all the food we can get!"

But they didn't come back soon. In fact, they were gone the whole day. It began to get dark, and we were starting to think something had happened to them. We were beginning to organize a patrol, when they came back with LOADS of prey. My eyes bulged at the amount of food.

"Wow, umm, I guess that explains why you were gone the whole day," I said. "Well done! We should all eat some prey." Suddenly, I noticed that the apprentices were in awful condition. They were frozen, tired, and Tulippaw was sniffling on the verge of wailing. As the rest of the clan ate, I stopped the apprentices. "I need to talk to you three." I led them away, and then turned to them. 'What happened on the patrol?" The apprentices remained silent. "I expect an answer," I pressed on. Gingerpaw began to answer.

"Hollystem made us-" Waterpaw slapped her tail over Gingerpaw's mouth.

"Hush! You know what Hollystem said would happen if we told!" she spat.

"And what would happen? Did she threaten you?"

The apprentices looked at each other, horrified. Finally, Gingerpaw snapped.

"Hollystem took us hunting, but there wasn't a lot of prey in our territory. So, she made us go beyond the border."

"You walked out of our territory?!" I cried.

"Yeah," Gingerpaw continued. "We walked a really long way, and we did all the hunting while she sat back and just ordered us around. And on our way back, she said that if we told anyone, that she would make us walk around the whole camp seven times without stopping!" I gasped.

"She did what?!"

"Please don't tell her," Tulippaw begged.

"I assure you I won't let any of that happen," I said. "I'll handle everything. You three go eat. You've had a long day." As the apprentices left, I approached Hollystem.

"Hollystem," I called. She looked up from her food. "We need to speak." I led her into my den. "I heard about what you made the apprentices do," I said. "And I also know that you threatened them if they told." Hollystem was stunned.

"Sunheart, I was only trying to-"

"Save it, Hollystem!" I shouted. Hollystem froze and stared at me. I took a deep breath. "Look, I really want to believe that you're meant to be leader. Honestly, I do. But we can't keep you in the clan if these things keep happening." Hollystem was silent. Then she looked down at her paws.

"I'm so horribly sorry," she said. "Could you ever forgive me?"

"You have to _earn _your forgiveness," I protested. "You have to work to prove that you deserve to be leader."

"I promise I'll change," Hollystem prompted. "I'll work harder than ever!" I sighed as I watched her walk away.

As time passed, Hollystem didn't change. She kept her old ways. But it had been a long time, and I couldn't think of an alternative leader. We needed authority, and fast. One fateful morning, everything changed.

I walked over to Ivyblaze.

"Ivyblaze, where's Hollystem?" I asked.

"She's training the apprentices in battle," Ivyblaze replied.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" I asked. "You do remember what happened last time she went on a patrol with the apprentices, right?"

"I'm sure it'll be fine," Ivyblaze said dismissively.

"Anyway, I think we should make Hollystem leader. We've gone too long without one." Suddenly Moonshine flew out of her den.

"NOO!" she cried. "No, you can't make Hollystem leader!"

"Moonshine, what do you mean?" I asked.

"I just had a dream! We were all trapped in a holly bush, and the spiny leaves were scratching our flanks. Then I heard Whitetail's voice. He said 'Beware the poison of holly.' It was a sign! We have to get rid of her!"

"But then who's supposed to be leader?" I wailed.

"Look up," Moonshine said. "At the sun."

Look at the sun? You weren't supposed to look at the sun. But I did what I was told, and looked up. I expected the sun to blare its brightness into my eyes. But it wasn't that bright. In fact, the light was very soft. It was a gentle, silver glow.

Silver glow? The sun was supposed to be golden!

"Don't you remember how Whitetail called you 'Little Silver'?" Moonshine asked. I looked at her, shocked. "Yes, I know about that," Moonshine explained. "It's an omen. You are meant to be leader."

"Me?" I cried. "I can't lead!"

"Think about all the times you led us through trouble. Your voice rings with authority. You have the power to lead us," Moonshine assured.

"But what about Hollystem's dream?" Ivyblaze asked. "Didn't she get an omen too?"

"Don't you see?" Cloverpaw said, coming out of the den. "Hollystem _lied _about that dream. She was never meant to be leader. The only reason she joined us was to use us into power and take control of the clan!"

And just as she said that, Hollystem returned with the apprentices from battle training. But instead of looking like they'd come back from training, the apprentices looked like they'd been in an actual battle.

"What happened to you? Did something attack you?" Cloverpaw asked, concerned.

"No, we were just training," Hollystem replied. The warriors gaped in shock.

"You call _that_ 'just training'?" Rosepetal snapped. I felt fury coursing through me.

"You're supposed to keep your claws _sheathed _during training," I growled through gritted teeth.

"Why?" Hollystem retorted. "They're better fighters now. They know what a _real _battle is like."

"You three!" Moonshine called. "Come to my den at once!" The apprentices went inside her den, waiting for their wounds to be treated.

"So when are you going to make me leader?" Hollystem asked, sharpening her claws against a rock. "I'm getting tired of waiting."

"Wha- make _you_ lead-" I stuttered, unable to speak in shear anger.

"We're not making you leader," Rosepetal hissed. "Ever."

"What?!" Hollystem stopped sharpening. "But- but it's Starclan's will!"

"No, it's not," Rosepetal hissed. "You lied about having that dream. You only want power!"

"Wha- oh come on, that's- I mean, that's ridiculous!" Hollystem scoffed. "Ivyblaze, you still think I should be leader, right?" Ivyblaze shook her head.

"Sunheart is leader, not you!" she hissed.

"Holly, you have been stripped of your warrior name and duty. You must leave our camp now," I ordered. Holly was silent for a moment. Then she lunged at me.

"I'm going to be leader! No one else!" she hissed. Ivyblaze leapt forward and grabbed Holly's scruff. She dragged her all the way up the Highrock, and then shoved her off. Holly fell down, and when she got up, she was surrounded.

"Get out," Rosepetal growled. "Before we shred you!" Holly scrambled to her paws, and then ran away.

"This isn't over!" she called, before disappearing. Ivyblaze bounded down, and walked over to us.

"I hope that makes up for the fact that I ever thought Holly should be leader," she said.

"Don't worry,' I said. "You did what any honorable warrior would do."

"Indeed you did."

We looked around, and Whitetail appeared. Moonshine and Cloverpaw brought the apprentices out, their pelts covered with leaves and all sort of herbs. Whitetail walked forward.

"You have chosen your leader, and you are now a true clan. It is time to name your clan." We looked at each other. What would be our name?

"Look to the clouds," Whitetail said. Looking up, I saw an interesting shape in the clouds. It was the shape of a cat's head, and inside the head was a cloud with a lightning bolt striking down.

"Cloudclan," I said. "That will be our name." Whitetail nodded.

"The clouds are your destiny," he said. "Moonshine, you must take Sunheart to receive her nine lives at the Moonstone."

So, I was led to the Moonstone where I received my nine lives, became Sunstar, and made Rosepetal my deputy.

"And the rest is history!" Snowfang grinned. Silverstar stretched her claws in a yawn.

"Well, it's late. You apprentices should be getting some sleep, especially if you're going to be warriors of Cloudclan, the greatest clan there ever was."

"I can't believe you three actually thought you could take over the clan," Shadowpaw laughed.

"Yeah, we were pretty stupid back then," Gingerpaw grinned. "Goldenpaw, I'm sorry I made fun of you."

"And I'm sorry I told you to shut up," Goldenpaw apologized. "But I'll still make a better warrior than you!"

"No you won't!" Gingerpaw retorted. Silverstar shook her head.

"Did you say thank you to Silverstar?" Skyclaw asked.

"Thank you, Silverstar!" the apprentices called.

"We should do this again," Shadowpaw said.

"Yeah, I wanna hear another story!" Lotuspaw chirped. As the rest of the apprentices chanted in agreement, Silverstar looked up at the stars. She then buried the rest of her meal and offered it to Starclan.


End file.
